Arrest: Buthelezi 'didn't know'
2003-03-07 20:10
Cape Town - Home Affairs minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Friday pledged to root out corruption but said he had not been informed that a ministerial official might be involved in misconduct.
He was reacting to the arrest of a 51-year-old employee in his office on a charge of fraud relating to the aiding and abetting of a fugitive.
The woman is to appear in the Pretoria magistrate's court on Monday.
Buthelezi said he had no information and was therefore unable to comment on the arrest of a staff member.
"No one informed me of such arrest, nor of the relevant charges.
"If the charges relate to such person's duties of office, an internal investigation could have taken place."
Buthelezi said he was committed to rooting out corruption in his department "wherever it may take place, but no one ever reported the possibility that any misconduct was taking place in my office".
Two years ago a newspaper had published an isolated article alleging the existence of a permit scam in his office, Buthelezi said.
"When I requested those who made the statement to provide information so that the matter could be investigated, no information whatsoever was forthcoming, and therefore no basis existed for any investigation.
Sworn affidavit
"Nonetheless, I took the extraordinary measure of requesting each and every one of my staff members to execute a sworn affidavit stating that they were not involved in any permit scam nor did they have any information relating thereto."
Earlier on Friday, police spokesperson Captain Piletji Sebola said the ministerial official would also face a charge of contravening the Aliens Control Act.
The charges relate to her alleged assistance of a United States citizen who was in South Africa illegally.
The American was arrested on May 8, 2001, after his visitor's permit expired. A repatriation order was issued and his passport confiscated.
The man, apparently a multi-millionaire businessman, paid R10 000 which was to be returned to him with his passport as soon as he produced an air ticket for his return to his home country, Sebola said.
However, the passport was stolen from a locked steel cabinet at the Home Affairs head office in Pretoria on May 21, 2001.
Departmental staff were interviewed, "which indicated that the suspect issued instructions for the passport to be taken", Sebola said.
The passport had not yet been retrieved, and the whereabouts of the American was unknown. He is not believed to have left the country.
- SAPA